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Hey, everyone! I have done quite a bit of research on tinnitus, but until recently I never had a problem with very low frequency sounds. I've been doing some research into low frequencies, and the damage they can cause.

I've had tinnitus since 1993 when (in a part of town I shouldn't have been in) when some goofball decided to rob me at gunpoint. My background kind of takes over in certain situations, and I resisted. A revolver went off right as I saw the persons knuckles go white, so though I got out of the way in time, my head was in the path of the side blast from the weapon's cylinder blowing my ear drum up pretty well. I was both very lucky and very stupid, but the assailant ran while I was stunned like a batted salmon! I was literally stunned into immobility by the blast.

For the next few years I suffered from very loud tinnitus, running through the gamut of symptoms, ultimately being placed on a benzodiazepine for PRSD, anxiety and absence seizures, that had a side effect of dampening the high pitch dramatically. I did a lot of research about 8 years ago after reading about just how dangerous this class of drugs were (Dr. Jean Ashton's book "The Ashton Manual" which deals with all the different medications and withdrawing from them. Please note: I DO NOT ADVOCATE THE USE OF THIS CLASS OF DRUG FOR ANY REASON DUE TO THE DANGERS OF LONG TERM USE!!!

I mention this only because I began experiencing tinnitus again as my body became habituated to Klonopin, and I began to go through withdrawal even staying on a "stable" dose, which caused all the symptoms I was originally placed on it, and ONE very common withdrawal symptom is tinnitus.

Following a fairly severe brain injury from a motor vehicle accident, I had to get off the Klonopin, and this is a very dangerous process, in which I am now about 88% through. The tinnitus worsens at each incremental drop in dosage, then dissipates as the neural connections adapt.

Since last summer, I have now been having serious aural, psychological and physical problems from low frequency sounds, that are beyond anything I have ever lived with. I suppose it is similar to the reactions most folks have when someone screeches their fingernails across a blackboard! Maybe its karma, because that never bothered me, and I was the troublemaker in school who would do that just to see people freak out. Since the injuries and having serious reactions to differing frequencies, I now realize what I thought of as a joke was anything but! In fact, if I had known just how awful and damaging sound can be, (the blackboard is just a quite common hurtful frequency) I never would have done so.

Back on point, I was sent to an audiologist who tested my hearing with actual sound and the computerized test, who found the computer would not show my left ear as working at all, but he "push a button when you hear...test" showed I could hear both far above and below normal hearing ranges, and since this last summer the low frequencies actually cause nausea, headaches, extreme anxiety, confusion, poor balance and coordination, and if exposed for any length of time unreasoning anger. Thank God I live out in the country, so other than one neighbor, I am not exposed to it too much. I am hoping to find some information that is not written in purely medical terminology that I can ring to my neighbor that he can actually read and comprehend.

As a former journalist, and humor columnist I am trying to learn to write again, have found this new sensitivity from mechanical transference through the ground to be so terrible, there is no way to concentrate and write though I have talked to him about it. Since I can stand in his shop and listen to his new 1500 watt stereo blasting, without the sound bothering me a bit, he can't understand how the very low sound waves of the bass drums, and lower notes of bass guitar can bother me, much less cause actual physical damage. He's actually a nice guy, but any research into damaging VLF and/or ULF frequencies are all written for other research scientists and are indecipherable to non-scientific personnel. I've seen some awfully well written posts by folks who really do know what they are talking about so I joined up to try and find a way to explain how the ground transference leaves no music, just a "Water Torture" type concussive sound (starts, stops at irregular intervals) that has me so anxious when the country silence returns and I'm waiting for the "fingers crawling up my spine" reaction to hit again, ANY rational writing becomes impossible.

Anyway, if I can be of help to anyone in any area I am conversant with, I will be more than happy to try my best, and I hope someone may be able to help me. If I'm in the wrong place, please let me know, and I will continue to search. Plus, as I do still have tinnitus that most times some background noise will mask, but silence does not, maybe I can find some information that works as well. Thank you all and I wish you all the best in your journeys in dealing with an issue that people who don't have them, can never understand.